800 Two Lap Runners

In the organizer's words:

Director: HIROKI Ryûichi
1994, 110 minutes, original language, 16 mm

Not suitable for viewers under the age of 18

This coming-of-age film marked the international breakthrough for director Hiroki Ryûichi. It tells the story of two high school runners who experience complex feelings of rivalry and loss, both on the track and in love.

Seventeen-year-old Nakazawa Ryûji is caught having sex at school and is forced to join the school's mediocre track team as punishment, where he discovers his talent for the 800-meter run. A competitor on the track is Hirose Kenji, who is haunted by the memory of the dead high school senior Aihara, with whom he had a brief affair. Rather half-heartedly, he is now dating the deceased's former girlfriend. Other young women also pass through the lively hustle and bustle of the two runners, accompanied by a soundtrack of pop music of the time.

Film series
Turning Point
Japanese films from the 1990s

The decline of the studio system in the 1980s and the bursting of the speculative bubble at the beginning of the 1990s marked a turning point in the Japanese film industry. A generation of directors emerged who created independent productions with great creativity and small budgets, giving the film landscape an exciting new impetus. The series shows eight titles that impressively express this change.

It opens with a tragicomedy by Sai Yôichi about the lives of social minorities(Tsuki wa dotchi ni dete iru), followed by the story of the (sexual) relationship between two runners by Hiroki Ryûichi(800 Two Lap Runners). Suwa Nobuhiro, on the other hand, paints a multi-layered portrait of a young couple(2/Dyuo) and Kurosawa Kiyoshi, the master of thrillers and horror films, provides deep insights into the abysses of the human psyche(Hebi no michi; Karisuma). In a mixture of tragedy and comedy, Sabu tells the story of an unsuspecting letter carrier(Posutoman burûsu), while Kawase Naomi focuses on the problems of a family in a rural region(Moe no Suzaku). Finally, Miike Takashi is represented with a yakuza film full of absurdities(Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha).

The film series takes place in cooperation with the Nippon Connection film festival in Frankfurt (27.05. - 01.06.2025). Further information can be found at https://nipponconnection.com/

Price information:

Admission free